


Blank Pages

by RoonilWazlibMalfoy



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Metafiction, Screw Destiny, Soul-Searching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:40:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25426279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoonilWazlibMalfoy/pseuds/RoonilWazlibMalfoy
Summary: What is Harry Potter when his destiny is fulfilled?
Comments: 14
Kudos: 13
Collections: Harry & Neville's Birthday Celebration





	Blank Pages

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Notepad 
> 
> This did not go exactly as planned. I thought Harry was going to plan out his future, but in the end, he left it up to us. 
> 
> Happy birthday, Harry.

Blank pages. His purpose was accomplished. The Dark Lord was gone. His story was told, his destiny complete. His future stretched before him in an endless line of uncertainty. 

Blank pages. He could plan it all out, fill up the pages. A wife, three children, and a future fighting evil. Never quit, never stop. Keep moving, Harry. Be what everyone wants you to be. A hero. Chosen. Fill up the pages so well. All is well.

Blank pages. Did he have no choice? Even now, when all is done. "They'll be with me until the very end," he thought. "Is this the end? Am I free? Do I get to fill the pages up with me?" But who was he, really? A boy who lived when everyone around him died? A boy who died to save the world? A boy with a mission fulfilled is just a boy. Just Harry.

Blank pages. An Auror. A teacher. A healer. A barista, a baker, a broomstick maker. He could spend his days as a playboy, playing quidditch, playing house. He could loaf around for years on his best friend's couch. Perhaps he was rich, or maybe he lost all of his wealth. He could go back to Hogwarts, or live in fear of the grounds. He could go forth and change the world again, or the world could change around him. Maybe he'd just text his friends funny memes. All doors are open to a boy who lived. A boy like him. 

Blank pages. A little sister. A Death Eater. A Potions master. A friend, a weirdo, an entire harem. He could fall in love and stay forever, happily. He could get divorced and fall in love again. Maybe he was too damaged for love, or maybe he loved too much, too deeply. His love could change a man or a woman. His love could change him. Essays and articles could be written, rejoicing in the love he'd found or else hating him for it. But when it comes down to it, everyone loves a boy who lived. A boy like him. 

Blank pages. He could live in Grimmauld Place, of course. He could live in the Burrow. He could live in a Manor. He could go to New York. He may be praised, he may be attacked. He may discover his inner beast, be bitten by a werewolf, a vampire. He may drink an unknown potion, get hit with an unknown curse, experience horrifying, delightful consequences. The pages were blank, the future wide open.

Blank pages. Rooms of magic wait for discovery. The humanity of his enemies awaits his gentle touch. The power of his magic can rock the world. Or perhaps he's a squib. Or a muggle. Or he ran away in the night. Where is the Boy Who Lived? Were his friends really evil and his enemies kind? Perhaps his enemies were even worse than he'd expected. Perhaps he'd have to save their lives regardless.

Standing, he dropped the notepad to the floor. "Let them decide," he thought. "I have a life to live that's all my own." Endless visions, endless imaginings. Worlds were built and deconstructed. Pets and cases and children and magic filled pages ad infinitum. Blank pages, no longer blank.

And the boy who lived, lived on.


End file.
